Aishwarya Rai's hits and misses in Bollywood

Often cited by the media as the "most beautiful woman in the world", Rai made her acting debut with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar in 1997 and had her first commercial success with Jeans, the following year. Aishwarya Rai, the model, the former Miss World and the Bollywood-Hollywood actress has come a long way in the last two decades.

Ash has established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses of Indian cinema. Ash earned public recognition with the Hindi films Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, which fetched her two Best Actress awards at Filmfare.

The Bachchan daughter-in-law appeared in the blockbuster action thriller Dhoom 2 and subsequently featured in such films as Guru, Jodhaa Akbar and Enthiran (2010).

Aishwarya has proved herself to be extremely versatile. If she has received critical acclaim for her performances in films like Chokher Bali (2003), Raincoat (2004), Provoked (2007) and Guzaarish (2010), she has also featured in item songs, which are played in a loop in parties.

Here is a list of the item songs featuring Aishwarya.

Kajra Re

The most popular item number ‘Kajra Re’ from the film ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ was picturised on Aishwarya Rai.  Although filmed much before her wedding, ironically, the song stars her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan as well as her husband Abhishek Bahchan. The father-son duo can be seen shaking their legs with the light eyed beauty. Hubby Abhie was rumoured to be dating Rani Mukherjee at that time.

Ishq Kamina

Looking sensuous in an Indian village girl’s attire, Aishwarya’s first item number was with Shah Rukh Khan in the film Shakti. Although the film was critically acclaimed, it was commercially unsuccessful, yet the song garnered the attention of the audience only because of Miss World’s presence along with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Moving on, Aishwarya Rai's lady luck has favoured her all through her career. Her debut film, Iruvar, was India's official entry at at Academy Awards in 1997. 

Here are some important landmarks of her career in celluloid. 

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Her first commercial hit, ‘Hum dil De Chuke Sanam’ was released in 1999. She was also nominated for Filmfare’s Best actress award. Under the production banner of acclaimed producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali the film was well received by most critics and audience alike. In this film she was paired alongside Salman Khan when reports confirming their affair came in. 

Devdas

Three years later, Ash got the Best actress award for the film ‘Devdas’ which was once again under Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films banner. This time her ex-flames’s rival Shah Rukh Khan was her co-star.

Umrao Jaan

Remake of 1981 Rekha starrer ‘Umrao Jaan’ proved to be a dud. The film mostly received negative response even though many believed Ash was the best person to play Rekha’s character. According to critics, nobody could portray the elegance and poise Rekha had as much as Aishwarya did in the 2006 release. Yet she failed to impress her audience.

Guru

Ash was nominated for the Best Actress Award for Mani Ratnam’s film ‘Guru’. Not only did the film do commercially well, it also heralded the news of Ash and Abhi’s wedding plans. Just two days after the release the couple got engaged.

But maximum praise went to beau Abhishek for his terrific performance.

Jodha Akbar

Based on a 16th century love story, the film was about a political marriage of convenience between a Mughal emperor and a Rajput princess. This Ashutosh Gowariker film, which released in 2008, was based on real life story.  Starring opposite Hritik Roshan, the lead actors received much praise as an onscreen couple.

Robot  

Starring opposite legendary actor Rajnikanth, Aishwarya was partially sidelined. The film mainly revolved around the actor as it was his comeback film. It only gave Ash a chance to share screen space with the actor.

Guzaarish

Guzaarish was the last film by Aishwarya before father-in-law Bachcan announced her pregnancy on Twitter. This offbeat film produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was a box office flop. But the film's music received rave reviews.

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